Post of Amy singing today

Amy sang today at the Christian Women's Ministry luncheon in Belleville.

Poor child was so nervous but did really well. The only real sign of her nervousness was the fiddling of her fingers on her shirt and the swaying back and forth LOL.

Our very dear friend Michelle Found accompanied us (actually drove as well) to the luncheon, played piano and sang harmony on one of the songs. Unfortunately, Michelle wasn't miked so you can't hear her very well, but her voice and Amy's blend so beautifully when they sing together.

Actually, you can hear them sing the same song here from a previous post.

It started out so well...

Yesterday Jay and I took the kids to a local park for a picnic and some relaxed schooling/family time. It was so nice.

Before Jay and I had kids we would go on 'French' picnics. We'd take a French stick, cheese and wine and just lay in the sun talking. So yesterday, we packed fresh french stick, cheese, carrots and juice (in lieu of the wine lol) and went to Delhi park. It was lovely. We ate, talked, Simon played a bit and then we all spent some time reading. Amy ended up reading a book all about Canadian beginnings. Simon read about Vikings, I ended up reading about the Undergound Railroad (finished it at 1am lol) and Jay read a bit and semi napped. It was so nice. To just spend some time relaxing as a family and being grateful for some time with each other.

Now, move ahead a few hours at home. Our phone is now disconnected and quite possibly our internet will be soon. I am so tired of playing 'catch up' with our bills. The "world" intruded into our little family day. (We received some other awful news as well, but I'm not ready to write about it, I'll try in a few days †)

Our pastor has been preaching about money, tithing, giving etc. Being faithful and good stewards of the money God has given us. Jay and I can both admit we haven't been really good at any of these. We are good at misjudging our spending. We are pretty good at giving gifts of money when we have it (and sometimes when we don't) but we haven't been very good at tithing. It's been so hard to tithe when the amount that comes in is less than what is going out. How does one tithe 10% out of a cheque that is just a couple dollars more than your mortgage?

People have suggested that tithing your time is a good alternative until we are financially stable. Thus my reasoning behind becoming a member of our board and helping out with the Youth Group.

However, we both decided (were convicted) a few weeks ago to start tithing fully again. That first cheque was the hardest one to write. It felt like so much (and it could have paid the phone bill). Malalchi 3:10-12 says ¹⁰ Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. ¹¹ I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit," says the LORD Almighty. ¹² "Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land," says the LORD Almighty.

We are to test God in this. If we are faithful in our giving then He will bless us more than He already does. We are standing on that promise. I am trying to hold back the demons of fear and worry. It's hard, but I keep telling myself that as long as my family is healthy, safe, and together, then all will be fine. God has already blessed me with a wonderful, hard working husband and two good, sweet kids. We have good friends who have been so faithful in their prayers for us and advice given. I am blessed.

I feel greedy writing this next part. Are we ever going to be blessed financially? Will the nighmarish uphill struggle ever ease up for us even a bit so that we can pay off our debts and start over? Pastor said in one of his sermons that having lots of money isn't the answer.

While I totally understand his reasoning and even agree to some extent (no one needs millions of dollars) I can't help but disagree to some extent. Having enough money to be able to cover our debts, utilities, mortgage etc. would be nice. Having enough money to buy a decent vehicle that doesn't break down constantly (and if it does, it'd be nice to be able to fix it). Having enough money to be able to take our children on a real vacation maybe once every couple of years. It'd be nice to be able to stop saying "no, we don't have the money" to Simon when he asks for something at the grocery store or Amy when she needs new jeans. It hurts so much to deny your children things that are just basic like a Yop or a pair of new jeans that actually fit her properly.

How nice it would be to have a little savings in our bank account for an emergency (like when our furnace broke down this winter) and know that we can cover it. Guess I'm dreaming

...but I'm also praying and trusting that God is going to show us the way.

Hopefully I will start to get some more shifts at work (really need 25 hours a week) and that will help.

So, I need to get off this and try to get something accomplished today. Still have to dig up the garden and plant my 'freecycle hostas'.

I'll end this post with some pics from our picnic.

And the winner is....

RED!

Red Mahogany that is.

After all the wonderful advice I received about what colour to do my hair...natural grey versus keep colouring. Keep colouring won. I guess I'm just not ready to go the completely grey look yet. Don't think it will look as nice on me as it does my sil Chris.

I love it! At first when I took off the towel I thought I was gonna bawl. It looked purple! Purple would have been fine 10 years ago, but I'm thinking 46 years old is a little too old for purple.

Thankfully it dried a lovely mahogany colour that makes me smile. Big plus, I get to play with different colours of makeup again. Before as a dark blonde some of the bolder colours had to be put away, but oooh I got some new eyeshadow today from Avon that are sooo fun!

So with no further ado, a picture (that I actually like) of my new hair...what do you think?

Garden Update

With all the rain and sunny weather combined my gardens are flourishing! Remember a few posts back the pics I took? Well, I took some more pics today and the difference is amazing!


















































Remember the Clamatis and how you had to squint to see it? Look at my babies now :-)






















Even my honeysuckle is growing!
















I've decided to put in another garden on the shady side our house where it looks so awful all the time. This side of the house gets the morning sun and then is shady for the rest of the day.

It was truly a wonderful surprise yesterday to receive a freecycle email offering up Hostas.
Check out my score! I believe there are 5 Hostas in there, plus a couple other plants given to me.
















We are going to dig up the area around this bush and put in a shade garden with stepping stones. I have this idea of making my own using concrete and painting bible verses on them. I have this big bag of cement in the garage begging to be used for something and my creative juices are starting to flow. I'll post pics once I make them and IF they turn out.
































This grass is always so nasty looking, what a difference some Hostas and flowers are going to make.
















Simon worked hard on Monday putting rocks all around the border of this "garden in the works". Last year it was full of transplanted 4 o'clocks. I'm curious to see if they come back. Unfortunately, I have to leave it looking pretty much as is until I can tell if there will be new growth (other than the weeds).